Saved From Servitude
by SecretSlytherinUK
Summary: The war has ended and the students are returning to Hogwarts to complete the study they missed. But how has the war changed them? Hermione seems to be hiding something, Harry and Ron have secrets of their own, and who has been "Saved From Servitude"?
1. Chapter 1: Happy Birthday Head Girl!

Here is the first Chapter to my first ever fanfiction. I hope you like it. Review with ideas for the plot and just general comments if you please :) Also, thanks to my beta JeezeJess, you're amazing m'dear.

I hope to post the next chapter in the next couple of days.

Without further ado, here is Saved From Servitude.

"Happy birthday, Head Girl!"

I awoke with a start and yelped when I saw Harry and Ron hovering over my bed, grinning like buffoons. I pulled my covers closer to my chest and swore silently, knocking a pile of presents off the bed in the process. The two boys looked incredibly excited and much younger than their seventeen years of age. Harry's incredibly green eyes were shining with excitement and Ron's cheeks were slightly pink from his barely contained glee.

"Hey guys," I managed with a weak smile, whilst rubbing my eyes, "Thank you, but what are you doing here so early?"

"It's not that early… well it's 7 o'clock but we thought you'd forgive us. Besides we came to wish you a happy birthday, you muppet! Unless you forgot your own birthday?" Harry said with a cheeky grin.

"Yeah, you're 18 for crying out loud! You should be celebrating - you were going on about it enough!" Ron said and then proceeded to do a poor imitation of me, "I'm going to be eighteen soon! Then I'll be an adult in both the Wizarding and Muggle world! It's going to be oh so exciting!"

"I do not sound like that!" I protested somewhat grumpily, ignoring the boys' chuckles, "and of course I didn't forget my birthday, I just didn't expect you to be here so early. That, and I'm a bit groggy, I didn't get much sleep"

"Must have been all the excitement!" Ron was jumping where he sat on the bed as though it was his own birthday. "Come on 'Mione! It's time to get up!"

"Yeah… sure, that was it" I muttered to myself, smiling slightly, briefly replaying some of the previous nights events in my head.

"Seriously, you have to get up! We've got a day full of fun planned and there's a big surprise later this evening!"

"I thought I told you no surprises?" I argued, loosening my grip on my covers in my moment of distress.

"Come on, Hermy!" Harry shouted, using the nickname I despise, and yanked at my covers. They fell away to reveal me in underwear that was more lace than actual material.

"What the…" Both boys chorused.

Oh Christ. Just what I need this early in the morning and on my birthday too! Well I suppose it's not too bad at the moment. It could be much, much worse. But then, of course, when did anything ever go the way I want? Never, that's when, and, as if on cue, my peaceful morning went from slightly hectic to plain chaotic in the space of 30 seconds.

The sound of running water, something the two boys had failed to hear, suddenly turned off and a gentle cough could be heard through the door. I grabbed the covers back from Harry's hands as he and Ron turned towards the door. The door opened to reveal the Head Boy with a towel around his waist.

"What's all the noise about?" asked the young man standing in the doorway, before realising who was in the room.

I covered my ears and flopped back on the bed as Ron erupted.

"WHAT THE FUCK?"


	2. Chapter 2: Hermione explains herself

Heya everyone. Thank you so much for reading my first chapter, I truly appreciate it. Just wanted to say thank to my amazing beta JeezeJess and rather than rambling on, I shall get on with the story…. Here's chapter 2 :) remember to review.

"WHAT THE FUCK?"

"Very intelligent words there Weasley" smirked the boy in the doorway.

"Oh shut up Malfoy! What the hell are you doing here anyway?" Harry wasn't shouting but his voice rang with such resonance that he might as well have been.

The shouting and throwing of insults bounced back and forth for a good 5 minutes and I was slowly but surely getting bored of it. As a distraction to the bickering, I realised 'hey, no one has sung me happy birthday today', and so I proceeded to hum the tune to myself. By the time I got to the 'Happy birthday Hermione' part I realised that the room had fallen silent. I opened my eyes and looked over at the three most important people in my life.

"Oh good, you've finally shut up." I comment, with a hint of annoyance sounded in my words.

"Hermione, I think I'm going to disappear for a bit," Draco says, casting wary glances at my two best friends.

"Ok, I'll come find you later when this has all calmed down." I raise my eyebrows at him, daring him to leave without a kiss goodbye. Seeing this as a chance to rile up Harry and Ron some more, Draco slowly edges around the two boys in question and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek and squeezes my hand whilst whispering "Good Luck" in my ear.

As the door shuts, I turn to look at the two boys who have stuck with me through everything, and whose opinion and trust I value more than any others. The look on their faces makes me feel so guilty for not telling them and their eyes show how betrayed they feel. But then, thinking back to the arguments that were happening not 10 minutes ago, I remember exactly why I didn't tell them and I sit up a little straighter, ready to stand my ground.

Ron opens his mouth to bombard me with questions, but Harry places a hand on his arm and he is immediately quiet.

"How long Hermione?" Harry's voice is barely audible and voices his concern and worry for me, a complete contrast to Ron's earlier tones of disapproval and annoyance.

Of all the questions they could have asked me, this was the one I was least expecting to come up first. And because I can hear Harry is trying to understand, I decide to tell the truth, the whole truth.

"A little over a year" In my head the memories of the past year flash by and I cannot help but smile. Seeing this, Harry's eyes take on a look of understanding, whereas Ron just looks plain confused.

"But how Hermione? He's Malfoy! How can you be with the bloody ferret?" Ron is clearly going to take longer to get used to this than Harry.

"A, don't call him that, and B, maybe if you gave me a chance to explain, you wouldn't be so quick to judge." I try to sound sure of myself, but my words come out hurt and indignant.

"Ron, think about it, if Hermione has been with Malfoy for a year now surely there must be something to him that we fail to see. If he had been planning to hurt her, he would have done it by now don't you think? Let Hermione explain and then ask your questions, 'kay?" Harry squeezes Ron's arm before removing his hand. Turning to me, he says "Okay 'Mione, you have our attention. From the beginning if you please"

I smile gently at the raven-haired boy in front of me as I begin my story, trying to include everything that happened the day Draco and I became friends, as this happened a while before any true relationship was formed.

"It was halfway through our sixth year and I was walking towards the library after dinner when I heard…."

**FLASHBACK**

The silence that normally filled the corridors after dinner was broken by the sounds of someone crying. It wasn't loud, and I could barely hear it, but as most people spent Friday evening in their respective common rooms making plans for the weekend, this was something that I was not expecting to come across on the way to the library.

As I walked past the bathrooms on the ninth floor, the noise got steadily louder until I could tell for certain it was coming from the boys bathroom. Not wanting to disturb them I carried on walking, until I heard the shattering of glass, followed by a string of swear words that put Ron to shame.

My prefect instincts setting in, I turned back towards the bathroom and slowly opened the door.

"Who's there?" the voice was raw with emotion and slightly croaky from all the crying. I edged around the corner and saw Draco Malfoy, the Slytherin Prince, sitting in the corner of the bathroom with tear stains running down his cheeks. "Oh, it's you Granger. Go away."

When I showed no sign of leaving, Draco Malfoy said something that I thought I would never see pass those perfect lips. "Please, Granger? Just leave."

The fact that Draco had said please had me completely dumbfounded. A sigh from the platinum haired boy on the floor broke me out of my daze and looking at him, I noticed his hand was bleeding. And quite badly at that.

"Oh god, you're hurt! What did you do? Punch the bloody mirror?" Looking at floor and then at the mirrors, I noticed this was the case. "Oh... well what the bloody hell did you do that for?"

"Well, well, well, Hermione Granger using profanities? What has the world come to?" The casual smirk that usually graced Draco's face was weak but definitely there.

"Oh hush!" I said, whilst thinking to myself that I was going to kill Ron for making me too comfortable with swearing. I slowly walked towards Draco and crouched down on the floor. I pull out my wand and reach for his hand, prepared to heal it, but Draco jerks away and says "Don't touch me...mudblood." Looking in his eyes I could tell that his heart wasn't really in it.

"Oh come on, you haven't insulted me all year, and you choose now to start?" I shake my head in mock disbelief and take his hand in mine. Whispering the healing incantation, I watch as his hand slowly repairs itself. When the spell is complete, I stand up and turn to leave. When I'm nearly at the door Draco speaks. It's almost inaudible but I heard it all the same.

"Where do you think you're going?" Draco sounds irritated but also worried, as though I was going to tell someone what I had just seen.

"To the library, you clearly don't want me here."

"Stay, please?"

I turn to look at him, shock written all over my face and I open my mouth to ask for and explanation but he provides one without me asking.

"I need to talk to someone." Draco's normally pale face was colouring slightly with embarrassment and he hastened to add, "But if you tell anyone, I will personally make your life a misery for the rest of the year."

"Erm, ok?" I walk back over to the boy and sit down on the floor next to him. "What do you need to talk about?"

"Everything" Came the response.

**END FLASHBACK**

"So he told me everything. About his father, Voldemort, how scared he was, everything. He clearly needed to talk and I was the only one around at the time. He bared his soul to me and I soon realised that the Draco I thought I knew never existed. It was all a façade."

The look of shock and disbelief on Ron's face was what I was expecting, but the look of understanding on Harry's was a surprise.

"Harry, you don't look surprised. Why?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"Well, I already knew about Draco's involvement in the war and what side he was really on, so that comes as no shock to me. But what I don't understand, is how you became friends, let alone...this?"

"You knew? And you didn't tell me? Thanks Harry, means a lot." Ron huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Sorry Ron, but Dumbledore and Malfoy forbade me from telling anyone, even you," Harry looked pleadingly at Ron, who was still annoyed, "I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't. I'll explain it all later, but for now, let Hermione finish her story."

"Thanks Harry but there isn't much to tell. After that night, we were just more polite to each other and if we were in the library together, we would sit at the same table. Slowly over the next few months we became close friends and would do our prefect duties together as well as meeting up in Hogsmeade a few times. We still acted as though we hated each other in the corridors and around other people, but when we were alone, I would get to see a side to Draco that very few have seen." I smiled at the memories as I spoke.

"Well that explains the friendship, but not the relationship 'Mione" Harry commented.

"Ah yes, well it was just before the Christmas holidays and we were in the room of requirement swapping gifts. We were just talking about what we planned to do over the holidays – he was staying here and I was going home – and suddenly mistletoe appeared above us. And the rest is history. I wrote home saying that I was staying at school for the holidays and Draco and I spent the time together."

"Wow...You really like him then? You're sure about this?" Something in my words had clearly made Ron begin to understand.

"Yes Ron, I'm sure, and no I don't really like him. I love him." Those three words make Harry smile, and Ron slowly nod.

"Ok, I think we understand now. I'm not saying I'm entirely happy with it, but we'll tolerate it for you 'Mione."

"Thanks Ron. But may I just say... hypocrites" I laugh at the looks on their faces.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Harry splutters as Ron turns slowly red again.

"Well I'm not the only one keeping relationships secret now, am I?" I ask, giggling at the look of disbelief on their faces.

"But how did you know?" Was the only response they could come up with.


End file.
